Craig Bellamy has had a long journey. We could interpret that in a number of ways, primarily his migration from football arsonist, or a similar word, to his calmer front as a promising new manager. But I’m drawn to something more literal because he’s been racking up the miles lately.
That meant getting in his car and touring Wales in the four months since he took over the national team. As he wandered through the cities, he went mainly to smaller towns and villages at remote points of the rural compass, paths also traveled by several of his predecessors.
The destinations are neither easy to spell nor easy to reach – Machynlleth, Llanrwst and Bryngwran are among those already visited, with Pwllheli coming up next month. Some nights a few dozen fans have met Bellamy on these hearts-and-minds missions and occasionally it will be closer to 200, but they are long, winding drives from Cardiff nonetheless.
And they’ve been long, winding conversations, too. He usually arrives around 4pm and doesn’t hit the road again until around 9pm, after opening his heart about why Wales means so much to him. Why he hopes the team means just as much to the people in his audience. Why the two perspectives must align if smaller populations are to exceed the sum of their parts.
Bellamy can get quite emotional when he gets this far, as you might imagine, and it’s often already 2am by the time the talking and driving is done and he’s home. But the road trips went well.
I learned a little more about this earlier this week, when I called a few people close to Bellamy to ask how he’s settled into this new role, beyond the obvious of taking an unspectacular side to the top of the Nations. League on Tuesday.
Craig Bellamy has taken a outside-the-box approach to managing the Wales football team
In his first campaign as Wales boss, Bellamy has overseen a promising Nations League spell
The former Premier League star has spoken of his regrets during his playing career, but he has always been an honest and committed person
It turns out that one of his trips produced a mildly amusing exchange. Bellamy had headed west to Llechryd, a village of less than 900 inhabitants, on October 24, so it came in the days after the FA announced Thomas Tuchel’s appointment and then confirmed he wouldn’t go to England until January 1 to leave. .
While the FA were busy defending their disdain for homegrown options and the wisdom of choosing an invisible man – no plans to attend games outside his contract, no input into Lee Carsley, no value in showing face – Bellamy sat at the front of a school hall. When one of the children asked if he had any regrets, it took a while for his answer to come and there was quite a bit of laughter: ‘You know who I am, don’t you?’
Of course, almost everyone has an idea about Bellamy. Great footballer, fantastic football brain, but shame about the rest of the wiring – that was always the perception, and it seemed fair for a while. Probably still does, to some extent.
I used to speak to one of his former managers on a regular basis and he had a distinct way of scowling ‘little s***’ whenever Bellamy was mentioned. The other stories are too well known to give a full summary here, but I always liked it.
I liked his honesty. How much he cared. How human he was in his series of triggers, reactions and shortcomings. I liked that he could be a bit s*** and I didn’t like how few people tried to understand the complexity behind it. I liked that he could laugh in an interview we once did where he shared a psychologist with Ronnie O’Sullivan and was the one who needed more appointments.
Besides all that, I like that he is a homegrown manager in international football, as he should be. I like that he takes to the B-roads to give talks to small groups and doesn’t just go through the motions when he arrives.
At that point we could reintroduce Tuchel into the discussion. There is no sensible reason why we should compare Bellamy’s status as a manager with the German winner of football’s top prizes, but it is safe to assume that one man feels more connected to his work than the other. And it’s a connection that matters. It’s a connection that can, and often does, take a team to the next level.
Bellamy speaks about what international sport should be about, and the value of an authentic connection with your constituency. The value of having one of your own in charge, snarls and all.
A homegrown coach like Bellamy can appeal to his supporters in a way that foreign managers will struggle to do
Thomas Tuchel has been an invisible man since the FA’s appointment last month, making his challenge to connect even more difficult
I recently heard a story about him that played on the theme: he apparently shared his aversion to swapping shirts with his younger players, with the message that they should never rely on anyone else. Sounds intense, a bit like the man himself.
Of course, any foreign manager could say the same things, with the same intention, but you doubt it would resonate as much as if it came from someone who has worn the shirt. Cherished it. Knows exactly what it means to the people watching, because he’s one of them.
These are details that are both tangential and important at the same time. Details that sound nice and can disappear due to a few bad results.
But it was encouraging to see Bellamy flying, especially after the hard knocks of recent years, including bankruptcy and the closure of his charity in Sierra Leone. He put millions of his own money into it.
Sure, there has been some luck involved in completing a six-match unbeaten run, but his side is mainly drawn from the Championship and drew with Gibraltar under Rob Page a few months ago. Now they have swagger, a clear playing style and a manager whose character can be extremely convincing in the right doses.
What happens next in his attempts to lead Wales to the World Cup will be fascinating. But Bellamy wasn’t wrong about what he said to the media a few nights ago, when he peeled back a few layers: “It was important to show people that I’m not a crazy person – I’m completely sane.” I probably felt pushed more into management to show that I’m not like that. You were worried, you thought, “I wonder what he’ll be like?” I have a feeling some people are waiting for it.”
We know the “it” he is referring to. An implosion. An anger. It can still happen and it’s not just us in the media who are intrigued.
When the Football Association of Wales finalized the call for him to be appointed, I understand that they felt compelled to examine him one last time, to ensure that his heart was not doing all the heavy lifting and that his mind was right .
For several reasons, I think the decision they came to was quite sensible.
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As much as I’d like to see how things go in the Vanarama, I’m inclined to view that statement as a piece of creative accounting.
Twickenham is more chaotic off the pitch
I used to go to Twickenham occasionally when I lived nearby. The rugby was good, the experience of traveling to and from the stadium was anything but. How utterly shabby that a few years later they’re both wrong.
We can probably bet that England will give Eddie Jones a rough return to the ground with Japan on Sunday, but if the fan reports of the post-match carnage last weekend are anything to go by, his experience will probably be more pleasant and over quicker anyway than those who paid a fortune to see it.